PE teacher

[Jncocontrol]

Hey, I wanting to work in Japan as a PE teacher someday.
I know i'm at least suppose to have a BA in some field to live and work in japan, right now i'm working on acquire a BA in fine arts in video game design and development.
What kinda requirements does it take to be a PE teacher in japan?

 

[Half-n-Half]

I am not sure so take what I say with a grain of salt, but probably a high level of fluency in Japanese as well as a degree in a related field. At least in America, you probably need a degree in Health and Physical Education or some related field. It's true you need a bachelor's in any field to become an English teacher, but I doubt the same is true for a PE teacher. A BA in fine arts and video game design has really nothing to do with PE and you'd probably need a lot of experience to compensate for it. Again, I'm not sure what it takes to become a PE teacher in Japan, but that is my gut feeling.

 

[Mike Cash]

At public school, you're going to need Japanese citizenship, for starters. You're going to need to pass national licensing exams as well.

What makes you want to be a PE teacher here? We get questions from people wanting to be all sorts of things, but PE teacher is a first.

The citizenship thing is a huge hurdle, but there are always private schools.

If this is what you truly want to do, then you are wasting your time studying what you're studying now.

How's your Japanese (including reading and writing). Quite frankly, if it isn't already at the level where you could J-Google the answers to this yourself, then chances aren't too good that it will be good enough to pass licensing exams or get an appropriate education in Japan in any sort of realistic time frame.

 

[Davey]

If you want to work as a P.E. teacher it might be hard to work at a Japanese public school. Instead try to look for larger international schools, and English gyms such as the little gym:

Club Kids_The Little Gym

 

[Glenski]

You won't need J citizenship, but you will in all likelihood need to have a degree/license from a J university, which means taking courses all in Japanese.

I, too, am curious. What is the allure of being a PE teacher in Japan?

Moreover, you have to realize that being any teacher in the public school system means tons of committee work, dealing with PTA, making travel plans to matches, counseling kids, making tests (because you don't work just in the gym, you have to teach courses like geography or history), etc. On top of all that, PE teachers work on practice training practically 7 days a week. What a "life".

 

[Mike Cash]

Have they done away with the requirement that public school teachers be citizens? Perhaps my information is out of date.

 

[Glenski]

I know of some foreigners who got their license in a J uni, Mike, and are teaching here. No citizenship change, either.

 

[Glenn]

Well, I found this page about the required licences:

中学校教諭免許状（保健体育）

Looks like you need a regular teacher's licence and have to have graduated with an associate's, bachelor's, or master's from a school recognized by MEXT, and have taken a required number of courses in education and the subject you want to teach, and you also have to get a licence in the subject you want to teach. And like was said above, you're expected to be able to handle other subjects and supervise on trips and all that stuff. You get the licences by applying to take the certification test in whichever to, dou, fu, or ken you want to teach. There are a few more things, but that's most of it, I think.

[Edit] That's for junior high schools. For high schools you have to have a bachelor's or master's. There may be some other differences too, but I'm not going through them right now.

 

[Jncocontrol]

At public school, you're going to need Japanese citizenship, for starters. You're going to need to pass national licensing exams as well.

What makes you want to be a PE teacher here? We get questions from people wanting to be all sorts of things, but PE teacher is a first.

The citizenship thing is a huge hurdle, but there are always private schools.

If this is what you truly want to do, then you are wasting your time studying what you're studying now.

How's your Japanese (including reading and writing). Quite frankly, if it isn't already at the level where you could J-Google the answers to this yourself, then chances aren't too good that it will be good enough to pass licensing exams or get an appropriate education in Japan in any sort of realistic time frame.

I wanna be a PE teacher cause i've also been a health advocated.
i want to teach the importance of good regular exercise, and eating healthy. Cause i would like to teach kid the great imporantance of this to live long and healthy.

I truely do not believe that my course i'm taking is a waste of time, Cause during the time off school being a PE teacher i don't wanna spend sitting on my butt watching Netflix in my apartment. I could be working for Capcom, Square Enix or whereever while school is off.

My Japanese is a little rusty but i still have like literally 4 maybe 5 years before i even get the chance to even get to work in Japan, so i have plenty of time to improve.

 

[Iron Chef]

You should get your priorities in order imo. No school board is going to go out on a limb to approve your hire as a PE instructor if your academic credentials are in an unrelated field. And why should they when they can hire on someone locally who has the proper pre-reqs.

I wanna be a PE teacher cause i've also been a health advocated.
i want to teach the importance of good regular exercise, and eating healthy. Cause i would like to teach kid the great imporantance of this to live long and healthy.

While your advocacy of eating healthy and regular exercise is commendable... I can tell you most Japanese have already figured that out on their own. I doubt you would really be bringing anything new to the table. They already enjoy relatively healthy school lunches as well as mandatory club activities in many schools and while I can not quote any studies I would wager most Japanese in primary and secondary education tend to be healthier overall than their western counterparts. Long story short... I really think it will be almost impossible for you to secure gainful employment in the capacity you are hoping for.

My first time in Japan I was employed as an ALT in a public junior high school with 600 students. At that time, basketball was a hobby of mine so I spent a lot of time hanging around the gym where the girl's team practiced hoops after school. Eventually I was invited to come along with the team on all of their away games as well as act as an assistant coach. We spent more time in practice and scrimmages than actual games but I digress... Anyways, that might be one informal way of getting yourself ingratiated with the local school board and convincing them of the idea that you could be an asset to them, who knows. Just food for thought. Good luck.

 

[Glenski]

Sounds like you would be better off being a dietician. PE teachers coach sports more than anything else.

A BA in fine arts and video design is useless for either job. Immigration will not issue a visa for that with such qualifications.

Chew on this.
Florida Center for Instructional Technology
Standards and Practice for K-12 Physical Education in Japan: In Both Content and Approach, Japanese Physical Education Exhibits Similarities to, and Differences from, Physical Education in the United States
7 things I never knew about Physical Education in Japanese schools

Utsunomiya University
The educational experiments of school health promotion for the youth in Japan: analysis of the ﾃ｢竄ｬﾂ・port testﾃ｢竄ｬあ over the past 34 years
Japanese physical education studentsﾃ｢竄ｬあ perceived skills and abilities in teaching physical education

Daily Life in Japanese High Schools. ERIC Digest.
Factors Affecting Japanese Elementary School Teachers' Commitment to Teaching Physical Education.
Physical Education Teachers Chatboard

 

[Jncocontrol]

A BA in fine arts and video design is useless for either job. Immigration will not issue a visa for that with such qualifications.

So hold on, Even if i didn't wanna be Teacher, But wanted to make video games in japan, the immigation office wouldn't allow me to work there?

I don't think i also explain this properly, Gonna have to forgive me on that.
I forgot to mention that i would like to be a teacher i wanna go for a teacher degree at some local college. Correct me if i'm wrong here, But after a certain amount of time being a ESL teacher don't i get a certificate or something

 

[Mike Cash]

I know of some foreigners who got their license in a J uni, Mike, and are teaching here. No citizenship change, either.

A little googling seems to indicate that they are hired under a separate heading and are prohibited from advancing up the career path to administrative positions.

 

[nice gaijin]

Pick a dream and work towards achieving it, or be doomed to dream forever.

 

[Jncocontrol]

Pick a dream and work towards achieving it, or be doomed to dream forever.

The best way to predict the future is to create it. - Dr. Forrest C. Shaklee

 

[Mike Cash]

The best way to predict the future is to create it. - Dr. Forrest C. Shaklee

Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans -- somebody a heck of a lot smarter than I am

 

[Glenski]

So hold on, Even if i didn't wanna be Teacher, But wanted to make video games in japan, the immigation office wouldn't allow me to work there?

Reread what I wrote. My statement referred to PE teaching or dietician. Your current degree might very well be accepted for visa purposes for a programming job, yes, but not for those other two.

That still doesn't mean you'd get hired as a programmer, though. And, job comes before visa. Lots of people outside Japan want to "make video games", but what can you do that a Japanese can't? That's the key to getting hired here, plus the ability to read/speak/write Japanese fairly well (in non-English teaching jobs, anyway).

I forgot to mention that i would like to be a teacher i wanna go for a teacher degree at some local college.

Local meaning where you are, or in Japan? In Japan it will mean knowing a heckuva lot of Japanese! If you mean where you live, the degree/license does not give you much of an advantage here. To work in an international school, you'd also need 2 years of experience in your homeland. To work in any public school in Japan, the degree/license back home doesn't help you get in; you'd still have to go through Japanese uni or get on as a mere ALT. As for other types of teaching work here (conversation school, uni, business English agency, etc.), a teaching degree is nice but not required by employers. If you are really interested in getting your feet in the door of a Japanese school, I'd recommend applying for the JET Programme (only once a year). They put people as ALTs in several public schools assisting a real licensed Japanese teacher. Experiences vary. Ask the posters on Bigdaikon.com.

Correct me if i'm wrong here, But after a certain amount of time being a ESL teacher don't i get a certificate or something

Nope, no such thing. What did you hear? I've been in the teaching biz (conversation school, HS, uni) for almost 15 years in Japan, so I think I have a pretty good handle on that profession.

Certificates are training-issued parchments, like those from CELTA or Trinity, which are programs you pay to attend. You don't earn them by mere longevity in teaching. You get nothing additional just for sticking it out as a teacher. No license, certificate, medal of honor, etc.